Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Integrated Surface Dataset (Global) (Version Superseded)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: April 12, 2026 at 09:12 PM | Dataset Last Updated: January 01, 2016 at 12:00 AM
*This version has been superseded by a newer version. It is highly recommended for users to access the current version. Users should only access this superseded version for special cases, such as reproducing studies. If necessary, this version can be accessed by contacting NCEI.*The Integrated Surface Dataset (ISD) is composed of worldwide surface weather observations from over 35,000 stations, though the best spatial coverage is evident in North America, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia. Parameters included are: air quality, atmospheric pressure, atmospheric temperature/dew point, atmospheric winds, clouds, precipitation, ocean waves, tides and more. ISD refers to the data contained within the digital database as well as the format in which the hourly, synoptic (3-hourly), and daily weather observations are stored. The format conforms to Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). ISD provides hourly data that can be used in a wide range of climatological applications. For some stations, data may go as far back as 1901, though most data show a substantial increase in volume in the 1940s and again in the early 1970s. Currently, there are over 14,000 "active" stations updated daily in the database. For user convenience, a subset of just the hourly data is available to users for download. It is referred to as Integrated Surface Global Hourly data, see associated download links for access to this subset.

Resources

13 resources available

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI Direct Download

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI Climate Data Online Data Search

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NCEI Climate Data Online Map Server for Global Hourly (subset) data

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • KMZ file for dataset

    KML
    Download

  • Full ISD format documentation

    PDF
    Download

  • Integrated Surface Global Hourly Data Sample

    CSV
    Download

  • Integrated Surface Database Information Page

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • Registry of Open Data on AWS

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • Azure Landing Page (Region: europe-west)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

  • NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

    TEXT/HTML
    Visit Page

Find Related Datasets

Search by Tags

Click any tag below to search for similar datasets

Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Smog Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Tropospheric Ozone Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Visibility Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Geopotential Height Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Chemistry > Oxygen Compounds > Ozone Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Electricity > Lightning Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Tropical Cyclones Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Drought

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
accrualPeriodicity R/P1D
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.orders@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description *This version has been superseded by a newer version. It is highly recommended for users to access the current version. Users should only access this superseded version for special cases, such as reproducing studies. If necessary, this version can be accessed by contacting NCEI.*The Integrated Surface Dataset (ISD) is composed of worldwide surface weather observations from over 35,000 stations, though the best spatial coverage is evident in North America, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia. Parameters included are: air quality, atmospheric pressure, atmospheric temperature/dew point, atmospheric winds, clouds, precipitation, ocean waves, tides and more. ISD refers to the data contained within the digital database as well as the format in which the hourly, synoptic (3-hourly), and daily weather observations are stored. The format conforms to Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). ISD provides hourly data that can be used in a wide range of climatological applications. For some stations, data may go as far back as 1901, though most data show a substantial increase in volume in the 1940s and again in the early 1970s. Currently, there are over 14,000 "active" stations updated daily in the database. For user convenience, a subset of just the hourly data is available to users for download. It is referred to as Integrated Surface Global Hourly data, see associated download links for access to this subset.
distribution 
                                            [
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/metadata/geoportal/rest/metadata/item/gov.noaa.ncdc:C00532/html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Landing page for the dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Direct Download",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/global-hourly/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Direct download for the Integrated Surface Global Hourly (subset) dataset files.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Climate Data Online Data Search",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/search/data-search/global-hourly",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Search for the dataset via a text-based interface.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Climate Data Online Map Server for Global Hourly (subset) data",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/hourly/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Dynamic GIS mapping application to locate stations and data for selected layers.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "KMZ file for dataset",
    "format": "KML",
    "mediaType": "application/vnd.google-earth.kmz",
    "description": "Direct download link for KMZ file.",
    "downloadURL": "https://gis.ncdc.noaa.gov/kml/isd.kmz",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Full ISD format documentation",
    "format": "PDF",
    "mediaType": "application/pdf",
    "description": "Documentation for the full dataset format including a data description, list of sources, format layout and definitions.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/global-hourly/doc/isd-format-document.pdf",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Integrated Surface Global Hourly Data Sample",
    "format": "CSV",
    "mediaType": "text/csv",
    "description": "This sample data file shows how the data are formatted by station ID and is for example purposes only.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/global-hourly/doc/sample.csv",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Integrated Surface Database Information Page",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-based-station/integrated-surface-database",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Project page with dataset information.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Registry of Open Data on AWS",
    "accessURL": "https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-isd/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Information on AWS data access.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "AWS S3 Explorer (Region: us-east-1)",
    "accessURL": "https://noaa-isd-pds.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Browse view to explore the S3 bucket.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Azure Landing Page (Region: europe-west)",
    "accessURL": "https://microsoft.github.io/AIforEarthDataSets/data/noaa-isd.html",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Information on Microsoft Azure data access.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords",
    "accessURL": "https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/gcmd/global-change-master-directory-gcmd-keywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NCEI home page with information, data access and contact information.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  }
]
identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/aim/iso/xml/C00532.xml
issued 2001-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Smog",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Tropospheric Ozone",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Air Quality > Visibility",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Altitude > Geopotential Height",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Chemistry > Oxygen Compounds > Ozone",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Electricity > Lightning",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Tropical Cyclones",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Drought",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Fog",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Freeze/Frost",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Phenomena > Frost",
  "Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tropical Cyclones > Hurricanes",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Lightning",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Weather Events > Rain Storms",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Phenomena > Tornadoes",
  "Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Tropical Cyclones > Typhoons",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Anticyclones/Cyclones",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Atmospheric Pressure Measurements",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Pressure Tendency",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Pressure Thickness",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Sea Level Pressure",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure > Surface Pressure",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Radiation > Sunshine",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Atmospheric Stability",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Maximum/Minimum Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Temperature Tendency",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Dew Point Temperature",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Processes > Evaporation",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Indicators > Humidity",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Water Vapor > Water Vapor Tendency",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Dynamics > Convection",
  "Earth Science > Ocean > Ocean Winds > Convergence/Divergence",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Surface Winds",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Dynamics > Turbulence",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Upper Level Winds",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Dynamics > Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Dynamics > Vorticity",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Atmospheric Temperature Indices > Wind Chill Index",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Dynamics > Wind Shear",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Wind Tendency",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Amount/Frequency",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Ceiling",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Height",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Types",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Clouds > Cloud Properties > Cloud Vertical Distribution",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Liquid Precipitation > Rain > Freezing Rain",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Hail",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Amount",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Rate",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Liquid Precipitation > Rain",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Ice Pellets > Sleet",
  "Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Snow",
  "Earth Science > Cryosphere > Sea Ice > Snow Depth",
  "Earth Science > Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Meteorological Hazards",
  "Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Snow/Ice > Snow Depth",
  "Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Surface Water > Surface Water Processes/Measurements > Floods",
  "Earth Science > Terrestrial Hydrosphere > Surface Water > Rivers/Streams",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Wave Height",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Waves > Wind Waves",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Ocean Winds > Surface Winds",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Tides > Storm Surge",
  "Earth Science > Oceans > Tides > Tidal Height",
  "Geographic Region > Global Land",
  "Vertical Location > Troposphere",
  "Vertical Location > Land Surface",
  "Vertical Location > Stratosphere",
  "Vertical Location > Sea Surface",
  "Meteorological Stations",
  "Ground Stations",
  "Thermometers",
  "Rain Gauges",
  "Barometers",
  "Snow Measuring Rod",
  "Visual Observations",
  "Anemometers",
  "Wind Monitor",
  "Pressure Gauges",
  "Temperature Probes",
  "Wind Vanes",
  "Altimeters",
  "Gust Probes",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "Land Surface"
]
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2016-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 180.0,-90.0,-180.0,90.0
temporal 2007-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/2025-08-28T00:00:00+00:00
title Integrated Surface Dataset (Global) (Version Superseded)

data.gov

An official website of the GSA's Technology Transformation Services

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov